Darkness and Night
by Obla Di
Summary: It is 1000 years before the events of the show. Luna just wants everyone to see the immaculate beauty she does in the night. If they won't look, she'll make them see it. First pony fic  God help me
1. Chapter 1

**Darkness and Night**

Chapter 1

Canterlot is beautiful during the day, but it shines under the stars, and no one knew this better than Luna, princess of the night. Certainly there was a pleasant quaintness to be had in the warmth of Celestia's day, drenched in golden light as it was, but how could that compare to the intrigue of playing shadows and night things? How could one sun compare to an infinity of stars?

The alicorn's silver hooves made a sonorous echo as they met the humble cobblestone of the Canterlot road. With her royal duties done and only precious little time left until her sister's turn to reign over both earth and sky, Luna had decided to take a pleasant trot down the city's streets. Air that smelled of moisture and purity gathered in her starry mane and refreshed her, and the sinking moon shed silver tears on shops and homes. The stars showed cold and brilliant above her, gentle pinpoints of light in a sea of darkness. The earth was alive with soft and secret sounds, like the symphony of crickets with its thousand tiny voices raised up. There was one who sang loud and boisterous enough to be distinguished against the rest, and Luna respected him for it.

She had to stop. The beauty of it all was just too much for her then. This, Luna thought as she surveyed the nightscape, is what she had defeated Discord for. This is why she took on the titanic labor of setting moon and stars in motion above the earth, why she took on the even greater task of ruling and government. Water touched the corners of her eyes as she smirked quietly; In truth she wanted to sing psalms of rapture, to run down the streets and wake all the sleeping ponies, to demand her subjects begin a grand festival to the glory of her gift to them. Oh and how she would do it too if only it were possible. Of course such things simply weren't done. It's not like she could just go and wake up somepony to celebrate the night with her …

What was she thinking? She was royalty, she did what she wanted. Luna went up to the nearest house and rapped her hoof against the door. "OPEN THINE EYES AND ANSWER CITIZEN!" Luna called in her best royal Canterlot voice. She persisted more eagerly when there was no answer. Perhaps a festival would be a bit much, but she would not be the only one to appreciate this beautiful night.

Finally, a simple brown earth pony opened the window from the second story of his home. There was sleep in his eyes and a look for murder on his face, but both dissipated when he noticed who it was that addressed him. "Thy princess hath a thirst for the sweetness of wine and thy company. Kindly supply both post haste!"

He was in stunned silence, probably trying to figure whether he was still dreaming or not, before he finally answered, "Certainly milady. I shall come open the door for you."

"Neigh, we shall drink out here," she answered. He stared blankly for another few seconds before nodding and going to rummage about his house. "Quickly citizen!" she called after him. He was going to miss it if he did not hurry. The black of night was already beginning to lighten into blue, and the stars were losing their brilliant edge.

The door to the brown earth pony's home opened as he nudged in front of her a table surprisingly ornate for a mere peasant. As he turned to go back and get the wine, Luna spotted the hammer on his flank; A carpenter then. He came back out with a bottle and glass and poured for her.

"Thou didst not get a glass for thyself," Luna commented.

He stared blankly. "Do you want me to go get one?" he asked.

"No, there is no more time to waste," Luna said. Her horn glowed as the goblet came to her lips and she drank. The wine was swill, but she ignored it. What need was there for wine anyway when you were already drunk on moonlight?

"So what dost thou thinkest?" she asked the brown colt nervously pawing at the ground.

"Think of what?"

"This," She said gesturing her hooves out to the grandeur around her. "Is it not beautiful?"

The earth pony blushed fiercely and dropped his eyes to the ground. "Well of course it's beautiful milady, I just didn't think you would appreciate my saying so."

Luna cocked her head curiously. Why wouldn't she appreciate his praising the glorious night, and why was he blushing so fiercely? She then realized that the carpenter thought she had been gesturing to her own body.

"NOT US YOU FOOL!" she roared in the fierce tones of royal outrage. "WE ASK THOU TO COMMENT ON THIS BEAUTIFUL NIGHT WE HAVE CREATED FOR THEE!" Other ponies were beginning to rouse and peak sleepily from their homes at what all the commotion was about.

"The … the night?" he stammered, "Why, it's lovely princess."

"Lovely?" Luna asked, "Lovely? A fine dress or a nicely arranged floral bouquet or a pastry is lovely. We ask thee to comment on the night, that stage upon which half of thy entire existence is played. Is thy experience so mundane that the best thou canst think to say is lovely?"

The dumbstruck pony's jaw hung open as he searched for his words. Luna was starting to get irritated. Day was swiftly approaching, and there was no time for this cotton brained colt to find his wits. "QUICKLY, BEFORE THE STARS DISAPPEAR!" She grabbed his head and pointed him to the sky, directing his eyes at the constellations as she roared into his ear. "SEE HOW THE LATE SUMMER URSA SHEPHERDS HER CUBS? SEE THE WATER BRINGER POUR OUT A SEA OF NIGHT?"

"It's ... It's ... It's lovely princess! That is I mean…"

"WHAT DOST THOU THINK OF THE HUNTER?" she battered on. That was always one of her favorites. The carpenter didn't say anything. Luna could feel him shaking under her grasp like a lamb in the lion's jaw. She let go of him. He backed away from her, rubbing at his neck.

Luna sat down somberly. "You do not recognize the constellations, do you?" she asked quietly. What had been elation a small while ago was transformed into grim despondence as the first orange rays of dawn broke the horizon. He didn't see it, he didn't see any of it. Oh he might have seen some of the light of the stars, but he had missed the Ursas and the hunter. He might have felt the cool air, but he knew no refreshment from it. He might have heard the crickets, but he didn't hear the proud strains of the loudest little victor. None of them saw it. They worked and lived in Celestia's day and elected to merely sleep through her night. Oh cruel irony, she had written a beautiful story in a language that no one understood.

No. If they did not understand, she would make them understand. "What is thy name carpenter?" she asked.

"Ebert milady." He peeped.

"BE READY THIS EVENING EBERT THE CARPENTER!" Luna announced as her wings spread. "WE SHALL RETURN AND THOU SHALT LEARN TO LOVE THE NIGHT!" Luna leapt and took flight, leaving Ebert again gaping for words.

Ebert again gaping for words.


	2. Chapter 2

**Darkness and Night**

Chapter 2

Luna had needed a little time to think, so it was well into the morning by the time she returned to the castle, though the flight did little to improve her mood. Golden light had replaced her moon's cool silver, and a quilt of azure blue veiled the endless sea of stars. Canterlot's ponies awoke, praising the return of their precious day with laughter and the ply of their trades. Baking bread and smith's fire mixed with the summer smells of growing grass and bark to produce a perfume more sanctimonious than any incense.

Luna in her somber colors stood dark and silver alone against the exuberance of the morning sky. When she flew low, she would occasionally pick up a piece of conversational chatter, and at one point she heard somepony utter "Thank Celestia," which had annoyed her. It was not her sleeping sister who had guarded the fools while they dreamt. Even nature herself seemed in praise of her with its birds coming forth from their nests to sing jovial songs to the sun. One of these flew up next to Luna, chirping cheerily. She swatted it away.

Luna avoided the entrance to the castle's main hall. She found the idea of the royal court and its swarm of obsequious advisors less than endearing right then. The princess flew instead to the high balcony on the western wing which connected to her chambers. She landed gracefully upon the platform of carved marble, and was comforted by the familiar view of Equestria it afforded. Being a winged pony, she was no stranger to the breathtaking aerial sights of her country, but there was something special about the view from this balcony, something about the way the angle showcased the rivers and streams curving intimately through forest and hill. Many an evening she started on her little viewing platform, watching the fat orange sun sink into the horizon.

Entering into her bedchamber was always a comfort. The vaulted ceiling was painted a stylized relief of the night sky, the constellations outlined by the stars actually taking shadowy form above her. The style was decidedly old, the furnishings displaying the sharp curves and arches already considered archaic back in the century she had them installed. Even devoid flame as they were, the standing candlesticks and great fireplace still seemed to exude a certain warmth and light.

Around were all the delicate instruments of quiet contemplation: Towering bookcases full of old poetry and philosophy, a standing marble chessboard with its pieces patiently aligned, the ancient viol da gamba in the corner ready to sing the music of thought. This was her sanctuary, her place of quiet repose. It was therefore quite a surprise to see there against the dark colors and gothic design she fancied was a large white alicorn with a flowing colored mane. She was sitting comfortably on Luna's canopy bed, smiling gently at her.

"Celestia," Luna said, "What are you doing here?"

Celestia rose from the bed, nuzzling past the smoky gossamer silk that draped its sides. "You were not present at the changing of the guard today. Most mornings I awake to you bombarding me with all the details and news of what has happened under your reign. I am curious why the same was not so today."

"Nothing is wrong, I simply had nothing relevant to report is all," Luna said, her ears drooping a little. She only ever abandoned the regal tones and presumed 'we' of the royal Canterlot voice when speaking with her sister in private. It used to be that Celestia only dropped the royal form of address for her as well, though Luna had noticed her increasingly using the personal pronoun 'I' with other acquaintances.

"I do not recall that ever stopping your report before," Celestia chided gently.

"Well, make a note of it then," said Luna. "Is there anything else you wish to discuss before leaving me to my rest?"

Celestia frowned. "I also wonder why it is you avoided entrance through the royal court."

"Have you considered that perhaps I simply desired some privacy?" Luna snipped. Celestia could have a tendency to overstep her bounds and forget that it was not a newborn foal to whom she spoke.

"I had considered that, but sometimes what we want is different from what we need," Celestia said, "I know you Luna, when assailed by a problem it is your custom to deny it exists. I have heard talk between the guard outside your bedroom. They speak of hearing … noises over the past fortnight while you sleep."  
>A cold shiver ran along the night princess' spine, radiating down her body and into her wings until she felt a tingle in each individual feather. She had not made the soundproofing spell strong enough. "I do not know what it is they speak of," she finally managed. "I have not heard anything."<p>

From the expression on her shining immortal face, it was apparent that Celestia was skeptical. She didn't challenge her however. "Be that as it may, I can tell that something last night has left you feeling troubled. Please sister, tell me."

Luna turned away from the rainbow maned pony and walked around her room in conflicted thought. Celestia waited patiently for her reply. She would leave if Luna asked her to, and at first Luna thought she would do just that. As she glanced over the familiar trappings of her books, her viol, and her chessboard however, her eyes fell upon her prize possession, the looking glass leaning up against the wall amidst her star charts. Celestia had commissioned it for her birthday a long time ago, soon after they had defeated Discord and began to rule Equestria together. Luna had initially thought the thing almost an insultingly quaint gift for a night goddess such as she, but it had proved a stunningly useful astronomical tool. To this day, the old thing still managed to dig up secrets about the stars she shepherded. It had come with a sentimental note that Luna pretended to have thrown away, but kept in secret.

Luna sighed. "I was annoyed by something last night is all."

"Oh?"

Luna thought for a moment about how to phrase her thoughts. "I am … disappointed by the ignorance of our average citizen." Yes, that was the right word.

Celestia's countenance took a grim set. "Ignorance, how do you mean? I think that our system of education is quite adequate. Each pony is taught to discover his or her special talent and how best to apply it to a profession."

"But that's just the problem," Luna said, stamping a hoof. "I feel as if we've taught them how to work, but not how to live, as if we've taught them how to be, and not why it is good to be." There was a moment of silent solemnity between the two sisters at her last sentence. She had paraphrased something their father was known to say. "They are mortal, and yet they rush through their precious short lives without ever seeing any of the beauty that makes it all worth the bother."

Celestia paused for thought. "If you mean that the average pony doesn't know how to enjoy themselves, then I believe you are quite mistaken," she said. "From a peasant's farm house dance to a high society ball, ponies are well versed in the arts of leisure."

"No, that is not what I mean," Luna said, "Leisure is all well and good, such is necessary for a healthy mind, but where is the appreciation for the great things? Where is the all-encompassing rapture felt for the majesty of the world around, the unbridled joy to be part of that world? I met a pony last night who could not name for me a single constellation, not a single one Celestia. It was as if in all his years, the thought had never struck him that he might look up into the sky once the sun was gone, as if he knew not what stars were. When I think of all that I've felt from just looking up, to know that he has never felt any of it, it makes my heart ache sister."

"Oh Luna, you cannot blame him for that," Celestia sighed. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, not in the stars, and many a pony fear the dark which surrounds them."

"You are wrong!" Luna said, fiercer than she meant to. Celestia studied her closely for it. She collected herself and went on. "Something that is subjective, incommunicable pleasure with no reason or purpose behind it, that is the kind of thing which Discord's 'jokes' were made of. His were cruel, pointless pleasures which appealed only to him. Our world is better than his Celestia, not because we just so happen to like it better, but because it truly is better. My night is just as beautiful as your day, and anypony can understand true beauty if you demonstrate it to them. If they are afraid of the dark, then they must be made to see past their fear."

There was again silence between the two sisters for a moment then. Outside, the sounds and smells of market life drifted in, maturing as more and more ponies awoke. The ringing of money tumbling was a drum to the singing of sellers hawking their wares, the smell of soups and stews and baking mixed to produce one delectable odor.

Celestia finally spoke. "Are you sure that this woe you feel is entirely sympathetic?" she asked.

"But of course," Luna said. "I love my subjects with all my heart; it is only natural that I should be pained when they do not appreciate the joys given them."

"And you are not perhaps the slightest bit yourself hurt? You are after all the essence of the night dear sister, are you sure you are not taking their disinterest a little bit personally?"

"I…" Luna was glad for the dark color of her coat to help hide her blush. As much as she hated to admit to such petulant feelings, she feared there might be some truth to it. She both loved and hated that her sister could so easily peer into a soul that most other ponies found a clouded enigma.

"I suppose I may be a little perturbed by their attitudes towards me personally. I have never understood why they don't love me the same way they love you," Luna paused in embarrassment, but her sister was all quiet understanding. "Certainly they respect me, but as far as their affections are concerned, they are yours. Is there some duty that I fail them which you supply?"

Celestia began to answer, but Luna cut her off. "That question was rhetorical Celestia."

Celestia smirked. "Of course sister, but listen to me. I will always think of you as a bumbling little filly romping around in the dark, but to our subjects you are something quite different. To them you are a dark and wild goddess lurking the night, all the razor edge of justice and feral beauty untempered by the elements that are gentle and familiar to them. It is only natural for them to feel some aversion to you."

"I suppose so," Luna conceded.

"And it is not as if you are completely unloved Luna," Celestia reminded her, "The bards compose many a nocturne to the princess of dreams."

"Oh Celestia, you know I've always hated that nickname," Luna said dryly. "Such an insult, I raise the very moon and stars above their heads and am remembered for what is seen by eyes shut. The bards write narcissistic love poems to their own minds, not to me, and it is a slender maiden they aim to seduce."

"Perhaps," Celestia chuckled in earnest. It was a fond memory for both when they would secretly make fun of their overly sentimental court bards. "You know, it would not harm your reputation if you were to make more public appearances," Celestia said helpfully, "I am to have breakfast with the mayor of the new settlement Manehattan. Why don't you join me?"

Luna shook her head with a yawn. "I appreciate the offer, but no. I vowed to that imbecile who could not name a single constellation that I would personally show him the night, and I must get some sleep if I am to give him his tour and keep up with my other royal duties."

Celestia put on a playful leer. "Oh? A personal moonlit stroll with an anonymous though no doubt dashing young stallion is it? Is my little Luna going courting for the first time in decades?"

This time Luna blushed so furiously that not even her blue-black coat could completely hide it. She began to spew the royal canterlot babble. "Do not be silly, it is not courting. Well, I suppose it could be construed as courting, but only insofar as Ebert the carpenter is a citizen and thus representing all citizens, and I being a compassionate and just ruler would wish to court and know all my subjects which he serves to represent. Of course, even then I wouldn't say that that's romantic courting. Although then again, I suppose that's the only kind of courting there is."

"I see." Celestia nodded. "So this Ebert, is he an earth pony? I seem to recall you having an attraction to the earth pony laborers."

"Big sister, you know it's not like that!" she cried out, and for a moment, despite her crown and all her years, Luna was just a little filly again.

"Of course dear of course," Her teasing older sibling said. "I had better leave you to your rest, you've got a big night ahead of you. I'll have the guards alerted for any lover's gifts coming from one Ebert the carpenter." Celestia laughed and trotted lightly out the door. When she was gone, Luna threw herself face first onto her bed. She was laying there for a few minutes before she finally reached under her pillow and retrieved the yellowed piece of parchment that had come with her looking glass so many years ago.

"I'll always be your big sister."


	3. Chapter 3

**Darkness and Night**

Chapter 3

"And what is that one father?"

"That is the great serpent, making his nightly crawl through the sky."

"And that one?" the dark blue filly asked pointing a hoof to the sky.

"Mmmm," her father hummed thoughtfully looking up. "That is the great bear, Ursa Major, shepherding her cub."

"That snake is awfully close to Ursa minor," The filly remarked. "Isn't Ursa Major worried it might bite her child?"

Her father shook his head, his dark and shining mane flowing with the motion. "She's not worried because she knows the serpent knows better. Nobody threatens her cub."

"Oh," The filly sighed. She snuggled up close into the side of the laying alicorn stallion to catch more of his warmth. He responded by extending a magnificent black and star-studded wing to serve as her personal blanket. "And what about those stars just below the moon?"

"They're just stars Luna."

"Nuh-uh, it's an apple fritter!" She drew invisible lines between the points of light to outline the shape she saw. "See?"

He laughed gently, a sound that was grandeur and munificence personified. "I certainly hope my little moon doesn't eat it; stars might ruin her appetite, and there will be much feasting tomorrow."

Luna smiled. She had always heard stories from other ponies about the day you got your cutie mark. There was supposed to be parties, and presents, and cakes; there had certainly been that and more when the little golden sun had appeared on Celestia's hindquarters.

Luna however, did not have a day when she got her cutie mark, she had a night. When the little crescent moon against a field of black appeared on her flank a few hours ago, there had been no parties or celebrations. Her mother and sister had already been long asleep. Only her father guiding the heavens had been awake to see her move the moon and get her mark. They celebrated not with presents and parties, but by spending the dark hours star gazing. Luna didn't care whether she got the other stuff or not. She had her cutie mark, and she was happy.

"Luna,"

"Yes father?"

"We must have words."

"We're having them right now," she giggled.

"Serious words," he said, and he said it in the voice. When Astras, eldest of the alicorns and lord of the night sky, used the voice, you listened.

"Oh," She shrunk a little under his black wing.

Astras stared up thoughtfully at his herd in the sky before speaking, his features as proud and stoic as if they were carved from stone. "You were born a pony Luna, so I don't expect you to fully comprehend this mindset, but I want you to try and tell me why you think your mother and I first descended from the heavens."

Luna was a little shocked. Her parents hardly ever talked about what they were … before. Her chest tightened a little. Luna didn't like thinking of such things. "Because … because if you didn't, then you wouldn't have been able to have Celestia and me."

"No Luna, that is not why," Astras said, and there was no warmth in his voice now. "We were the two immortal sky spirits, and I was the very essence of the night. What would something that is eternal and utterly autonomous care for children? My mind was filled with galaxies and nebulas, the eons were my heartbeat. Mortal feelings like love and loneliness were so small as to be incomprehensible to me. Why should I trade all that," he pointed his horn to the sky, "for this?"

Luna shrank under his black wing. "I don't know father."

"It's because it was all meaningless Luna. I had the entirety of existence before me, the endless halls of space and time, and nowhere in all of that was there so much as a speck of purpose. All of that beauty before me, and it meant no more than if it were a void. I was all being with no reason to be, all essence and no purpose. I would call it like death, but only that which has lived can die."

The sounds of the night seemed to grow quieter as Astras told his tale, as if in reverence to their master. "I went on in this way for many many centuries until the sentient races started to spring up. The unicorns used their magic to arrange the heavens, to put it into a form more pleasing to them. It was, for lack of better phrasing, curious. Why would they bother to do that? I would soon learn."

"As they touched my realm, I was able to feel them through their magic, and see the world through their eyes. Everything came alive. Matter became food and home, fire became warmth and pain, those scuttling little organisms on a small planet became ponies with names and personalities and dreams. I realized that they who could find purpose in their tiny lives were better off than I who had all of time and the heavens before me. That is why I chose to take this form Luna, why your mother and the other alicorns chose to follow me. It was more than a fair trade."

Luna's insides felt as if they were tying in ever more intricate knots. "I don't understand why you're telling me this father," she said.

Astras continued as if he didn't hear her. "When I took my new form, I found in myself immediately sprang two loves. First, I fell in love with my night, the heavens and stars which I had known for so long had become new, and fresh, and full of wonder to my pony eyes. Secondly, I fell in love with my new brothers and sisters, the earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns who gave me this glorious gift. I wanted nothing more than to guard and protect them, to celebrate my blessed night with them. This, however, is when I learned the cruel irony of my new being: I am the essence of the night incarnated as a creature whose nature it is to fear it."

"My attempts to share the joys I felt in the night with others went shunned and unappreciated. They did not see the same thing I did under the moon and stars. You see, to them the night was full of dark and evil creatures doing dark and evil deeds. They were intimidated by me and my nature which they associated with evil. My new feelings served only to make me lonely, melancholy, and bitter. It went many years like that Luna, and I slowly began to loathe both ponies and my own very nature which separated me from them. I eventually was able to find some solace in my existence, not without the help of your mother and our daughters, but it was many a hard year I had to experience before I found that peace."

There was quiet when Astras finished his tale. "I tell you this because I feel that with that little moon which has appeared upon your flank that a destiny akin to my own opens up before you, and I fear you too will be made to walk a path of darkness and night."

"Don't worry father," Luna said, nuzzling his side. "Who needs all those other ponies? That will never happen to me, because I have you, and mom, and Celestia. We can walk the night together, and I'll never be lonely as long as you're with me, and you'll never leave me right?"

"Yes little one," Astras sighed, bending down to nuzzle back his little moon. "I'll never leave you."

Then there was the laugh, that terrible terrible laugh which shook the earth and stars in fear. Astras stood up to his full height, leaving Luna exposed to the cold.

"Father, what's happening?" Luna cried.

Astras' eyes rolled around madly. "Discord!" he growled. The stars moved out of their natural state and began to take on a new, bastardized form. They outlined a monster, a thing with horns and wings and an amalgam of limbs jutting out, uniform only in its lack of uniformity.

"Ah, Astras," the beast in the stars said. "Are you ready to play?"

Without word, Astras' wings spread and he took to the sky, flying straight up at the rebelling stars. Soon he vanished, and the laughing resumed, echoing down the deepest halls of the very soul. Darkness began to blot out the stars, and the moon abandoned its clean white for shades of a violent burgundy. Luna began to cry, alone with that terrible laugh and the light of the blood-red moon.

Alone, she was all alone.

* * *

><p>Light skewered Luna's brain as her eyes shot open, and the echo of her own screaming rang in her ears. She was perched precariously on the edge of her bed, so when Luna tried to rapidly sit up, she lost the delicate balance and promptly flumped to the floor. She landed in the twirl of blankets kicked down in her delirium. Luna lay there for a few minutes, chilled in her own sweat and gasping for breath.<p>

This had been the third time within the fortnight she had the dream of her father. It had also been the worst; Luna could tell by her soreness and her exhaustion that she had been thrashing and screaming for a good half-hour; in the dream, it had felt a lot longer. Luna looked around, trying to catch her bearings. Telling from the orange hue leaking in from her balcony, it was the end of the day.

Luna looked up when there was a rapping sound at her door. "Luna, are you awake?" asked her sister's voice. Luna said nothing; it wouldn't have done any good with the soundproofing spell anyway. She quickly gathered herself up and walked over to the door, opening it with a quick kiss of magic.

"Good evening sister," Luna said. Celestia stood waiting in her antechamber, two covered trays and a teapot floating magically beside her.

"I hope I did not wake you little sister, but I hoped we could have a private dinner together before you had to leave for your duties," Celestia said gently, "and your date."

"Come in." Luna stepped aside to allow her royal sister entrance.

Celestia's smile faded a little as she entered the room. She studied the unmade bed in dismay. "Did you get in a fight with your blankets Luna?" Celestia asked. She set down the covered trays and the teapot at Luna's small side table, careful to fit them all so that they didn't fall; the table was only made for one tray.

"Oh you know me," Luna said, casually walking over. She sat adjacent to her sister. "I'm a kicker."

Celestia turned her scrutinizing gaze onto her sister. "Yes, I do know you Luna. Your dreams have been pleasant I hope."

"Nothing to complain of," she lied. Luna had not been the one to wield the element of honesty when they imprisoned Discord. She quickly changed the subject. "So tell me sister, is this purely a social visit, or is there something you think I should know before taking my turn to rule tonight?"

Celestia continued to study her for a few seconds before replying. "Nothing in particular, I worked very hard today to make sure my sister would have some free time for her date. I even did you a favor and heard the trials you were to judge tonight." Celestia smiled kindly as she began to pour the tea.

Luna had been about to remind her sister that it wasn't a date, but she instead said "You presided over my trials?" it sounded like an accusation.

Celestia nodded slowly. "Why yes, I had a little free time in the afternoon. The accused didn't seem to mind, you seem to have picked up a reputation as something of a stern judge."

"That is my job Celestia," Luna said, staring straight into her sister's eyes. "You are the one who holds audiences, hears petitions, and makes agreements. I judge and sentence the accused. It has been that way since mother and father first took up the roles."

"I too am a daughter of Astras, Luna, I can sit his seat as well as you," Celestia said carefully, "And I have been thinking that if you truly want to earn the public affection, perhaps we should switch these roles more often. It can be hard for ponies to love their jailer."

"Growth, trade, and diplomacy belong to the day, crime and the justice which pursues it belongs to the night," Luna said. "If they are to love me Celestia, they will love me for what I am, not as some cheap proxy for you. Please do not sit and judge my hearings again."

Celestia broke gaze with Luna to study her hooves. "As you wish sister, but let us speak no more of this." Her horn glowed golden, and the lids lifted from their trays. Luna glanced down at the tray: A fine soup of chives and carrots steamed appetizingly against a heel of crusty bread. There was a salad of thistles and grass, and finally a small apple fritter tucked in the corner. Luna was quite enamored with the treat as a filly, but only Celestia remembered this little creature comfort of hers. They tend not to write down such things in the histories.

There was something else under the tray as well, a collection of dark-hued tulips tied in a scarlet ribbon. "What's this?" Luna asked.

"Oh yes," Celestia said, "I am told that a handsome colt dropped these off for you. A poem came with them, a lovely and surprisingly intimate ode; it made me flush just to read the first line! Are you sure this is only your first date with him Luna?"

"These came from our courtyard sister," Luna said, tossing the flowers aside. She used her magic to crumple the little scrap of parchment that was folded underneath the flowers, "And I highly doubt Ebert the carpenter knows how to write."

Celestia looked at her quizzically, as innocent as a fox in a chicken coup. "Well, if you insist Luna, but don't blame me when Ebert asks you what you thought of the flowers and his lovely sonnet and you find it hard to comment," she shrugged, taking a nibble at her salad.

The two ate in quiet contentment as deepening twilight filled Luna's chamber. The nocturnal princess felt the familiar rush of enthusiasm and energy as the world transferred over to her realm. Soon the immortal cosmos would wrap the world in their splendor and the creatures of the night would sing out to them.

"So what do you plan to do with your carpenter?" Celestia asked. "A first date is very important you know."

Luna stoically ignored her sister's attempts to bait her. "I will show him the night as I promised, that is all."

"I see, very…bold of you…" Celestia said, "But what shall you do until then? You do realize that, ehem, 'showing him the night' usually comes at the end of the date."

Luna felt heat growing in her face. Centuries old and her sister still knew how to get at her. She pretended to not have heard Celestia's innuendo. "I will probably just give him a rudimentary lesson in stargazing. Hopefully the fool will realize what end of the seeing glass to look in." Luna glanced over to her archaic old telescope fondly.

Instead of making another jape as Luna expected, Celestia frowned. "Oh Luna, don't you remember? The pegasi planned for rain tonight, quite a downpour actually."

Luna's eyes grew wide. She stood up and walked over to the balcony, and sure enough, heavy rainclouds were gathering on the horizon, a spreading gray soon to engulf the entire sky. There was a hollow _clop _as Luna drove a hoof down to the stone floor. "It's always at night when they decide to do this. Always at night!"

"You could make a clearing in the clouds yourself sister, that will leave the sky available to you," Celestia suggested helpfully.

"So that he may squint at the glory of the stars through a little window while the winds and rains screech all around him?" Luna asked, dripping sarcasm. "This was a foolish idea in the first place, he has no love for me or my night. None of them do, that's why they decide to hide it under clouds and lightening." Luna sighed. "I will have word sent to Ebert the carpenter that I cannot take the time away from my royal duties for him."

"Nonsense," Celestia said sternly. "I will not see my sister's first date in decades end on account of a little rain. You are going to go find your carpenter or so help me, I'll have him brought here and waiting for you."

Luna looked at her aurora-maned sister, trying to discern whether the threat was serious or not. She decided best not to risk it. Her horn glowed, and a simple hooded cloak materialized around her to protect from the fast approaching rains. "I suppose I can reschedule." She said, walking out onto her balcony. Her wings spread out and tensed as she prepared for flight.

"Reschedule what?" Celestia asked from inside.

"Why the date of co-" Luna's teeth audibly clicked with the force she used to shut her mouth. The word was out however. Celestia simply took a sip from her tea.

"Oh shut up," Luna said, taking flight into the cloudy dusk.


End file.
